Not many things inspire bipartisanship on Capitol Hill these days - with the exception of criticizing Big Tech. Though Facebook has been most in the crosshairs recently, criticism has also been directed at Google, Apple, Amazon, and Twitter. For all the promise of social media, search, and internet commerce, concerns that these firms are causing more damage than benefit seem to be gathering steam.
What wisdom can Christians offer in this situation? What does it look like to use social media and other digital technologies well? What wisdom can the Christian faith provide for those who are building them?
Register here to join the Octet Collaborative for this virtual conversation on this crucial topic with an expert panel of theorists and practitioners.
Felicia Wu Song is a sociologist who studies the social and cultural effects of digital technologies on community and identity in contemporary life. Trained in history, communication studies, and sociology from Yale, Northwestern and University of Virginia, she is professor of sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. She is author of a new book, "Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age (Intervarsity Press Academic). Her prior research includes her first book, "Virtual Communities: Bowling Alone, Online Together (2009)which explored the democratic efficacy of online communities, and other studies on expectant women's online information-seeking habits and the evolution of "mommy bloggers".
Michael Sacasas is the associate director of the Christian Study Center of Gainesville and the author of The Convivial Society, a newsletter about technology, culture, and the moral life. His work has appeared in The New Atlantis, Breaking Ground, Real Life, The New Inquiry, and Mere Orthodoxy. He is the author of a forthcoming book titled 41 Questions: Technology and the Good Life.
Currently on assignment at Google, Nick Kim drives engineering projects for YouTube and is a member of the Google Christian Steering Committee. He is also involved with global missions organizations with the heart to supercharge missions and innovate on ways to serve the nations. Nick is a superhero by night and a father of two biological sons and an adopted daughter by day. He is based out of Mountain View, while living in Orange County with his wife and three children.